September 18-21, 2017 - Chapter 17 Escapees Fall Rally - West Siloam Springs, OK

September 18-21, 2017 - Chapter 17 Escapees Fall Rally - Natural Falls State Park - West Siloam Springs, OK


Monday, September 18, 2017
My sister Jody's husband, Mark lost his father last week and this morning they are having grave side services for him.  I'm glad we were able to be home to attend his service.  Alfred and his wife Wilma lived across the street from us for a number of years.  Their daughter Debbie was in my high school class and of course Mark, Jody's husband has been in the family for over 35 years.  Alfred was a great guy, and always had a smile on his face.  A former teacher that taught a number of our family members, including kids and grandkids, who at one time worked with Alfred, provided a wonderful memorial in his honor.

As soon as we returned to Oswego, we dropped my daughter Misti off at work and we ran home, ate something, hooked up and was on the road to W. Siloam Springs, OK.  It is a beautiful park with a waterfall - if there is enough water!  We'll have to check it out again while we are here.  We arrived around 2:30 and were soon set up and visiting with the other Chapter 17 Escapees who were already there.  We were told about plans to eat dinner at Rib Crib at 4:30.  It seemed in no time we were back in the vehicles and headed into town. Dinner was good and we met several new potential members - 3 couples.  Afterwards we returned to the campground and visited outside.  It was a beautiful evening.


Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Today is the first day of our rally. 

Sunrise on our walk this morning.

After walking this morning, we gathered at our neighbor's RV, Keith & Drena's, for breakfast as they are hosting this gathering.  They had coffee and danishes available.  We had not been able to attend a monthly camp-out since May so it was good to see everyone again. 

(On our walk this morning we visited the waterfall but it was about the same as it was last spring when we visited - barely trickling over, but we've seen pictures when it is full and it is really beautiful - maybe we'll see that on our next visit.)  Click here for pictures from our visit in May 2016.

There was a short business meeting of the officers after breakfast to discuss the group business meeting to be held on Wednesday.  Tonight was our pot-luck meal and we held it at our President's site. 

So much good food, and so many things I was unable to eat since I am now on a low carbohydrate diet. After putting the food away, we set around and visited for a couple of hours before heading to bed.

Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Dean headed to Keith and Drena's for coffee this morning and I spent the morning getting the RV cleaned up and getting ready for the day.  The rally room here was reserved by a Good Sam's group but they were kind enough to loan it to us for a couple of hours this afternoon for our business meeting.  It was a short meeting and then we had our brown bag exchange - which is always a lot of fun. 

I ended up winning two bags of M&M's - peanut for Dean (because they are his favorite) and coffee flavored for me.   He won a big plastic tub of honey roasted peanuts. Once we returned to our campsites, everyone heated up their leftovers from last night and we gathered to share them together outside of our President's rig, then visited outside until 9:30 or so.

Thursday, September 21, 2017
We do a lot of visiting and eating at these camp-outs and it was no different today.  At 11:30 we caravaned into West Siloam Springs to the Cherokee Casino for lunch at their buffet. They had a great selection and I was able to find plenty of good food even if it didn't allow for any carbs.  The Good Sam's group left today and we were able to use the clubhouse. This afternoon we played bingo - 10 games and had a very enjoyable time. 

Everyone was on their own for meals, and later in the evening one of our new members, Mike taught us two new card games - Idiot's Bridge and Pass the Ace.  Both were lots of fun and I look forward to playing them again.

Friday, September 22, 2017
We had a lot to do before we left this morning - showers, empty the holding tanks, visiting our new members and officers to take pictures for the newsletter and getting things put away and hitching up to head on south to Oklahmoa City to attend a Heartland Owners Club rally, when we leave here a little later.  I was able to get all of the pictures I needed but one couple and Mike agreed to send me one of him and his wife Mary Anne.  At about 10 a.m. we were loaded up and pulling out of the campground, stopping long enough to dump the tanks before heading back on Highway 412 that lead us to I-44 in Tulsa down to Oklahoma City.  We are sure looking forward to seeing our Heartland friends again!  We have met so many nice people through Escapees and Heartland!

I could not resist this beautiful flag at Camping World in Tulsa!  The wind was perfect for this fantastic sight!

September 13-17, 2017 - Birthdays and Kansas State Fair

September 13-17, 2017 - Watching grandkids, Birthdays, Football, and Kansas State Fair - All Seasons RV Park (Wichita) & Sand Hills State Park (Hutchinson)

Wednesday, September 13, 2017 - Watching grandkids
Dean had an annual checkup with his dermatologist at 8:30 in Joplin so we were up and around pretty early.  We did quite a bit of prep last night to get Bentley ready to hook-up as soon as we returned from Joplin.  Fortunately, being an early appointment he was in and out in no time and we were back home, hooked up and pulled out at 11:15.  We will spend tonight in Wichita to watch our oldest son, Heath's three boys, as they have a work event this evening.  Since we were planning on coming out on Thursday morning - this really worked out well for us because we were afraid we'd be in a rush to make the events we want to attend tomorrow.  Now we have a 45 minute drive rather than nearly 4 hours.  We had to pick the boys up by 5 at their school so we had plenty of time to get to Wichita, get set up, eat some lunch and rest a bit before going to get them.

About 4:30 we headed to their school.  Dean went in to check them out and then we talked about where to eat supper.  Well, of course, everyone wanted to go to a different place.  I finally told them here's what we would do.  I wrote all 3 choices on pieces of paper and Papa drew one - Logan's it was!  No one argued and everyone seemed quite happy about the choice by the time we arrived.  They all love the rolls at Logan's and so do I, but I am cutting carbs so no rolls for me.  We had a good dinner, a chance to visit with the boys and then we headed back to their place for the rest of the evening.  Since they had chores to do they spent awhile getting that done, then showers and before we knew it there was just a short time until they had to head to bed - school tomorrow.  Roman, the youngest and I played a game of cards - War!  The other two used their remaining time to play on their tablets.  

Mom and Dad returned home a couple of hours later and we made our way back to Bentley - just a few miles away.  We are fortunate that both of our boys in Wichita live just a short distance from each other and it is near an RV Park that we like.  We were both tired - it was a long day with so much going on and very glad we did not have far to go home.

September 14, 2017 - Birthdays and Kansas State Fair Horse Show
Today is our grandson Abram's 10th birthday.  He is one of the three that we watched last evening.  He is growing up so quickly and I don't just mean in years - but he's growing UP in height as well.  He's in the 4th grade and is almost as tall as his mom and dad.  Happy birthday Abram!

We will be heading to Hutchinson around noon today as we have two grandchildren who will be showing their horses this afternoon and tomorrow.  After a trip to a nearby Wal-mart for a few supplies, we hitched up and headed northwest on Highway 96.  We arrived at the park shortly before 12:30.   Sand Hills State Park located just north of Hutchinson is only a few years old.  Our site has full hook-ups and an all concrete pad for both the RV and vehicle. Each spot has a nice picnic table, grill and fire pit. There is an area in the middle of the camping area with water so it makes a nice view looking out around the campground.  It's very grassy/wooded around the outside perimeter, and several of the sites along the outer edge of the road around the park include pens for people with horses. There is also a horse trail nearby they can use, as well as walking trails.

We were soon set up and having lunch.  We received a text from our youngest son Jarred. He and his daughter Emmy are going to come over to watch Dacy and Tucker during their events at the horse show.  The horse show itself began at 2:00, and we arrived somewhere around that time.  There is no way to know when each new event will begin as it depends on the number of competitors participating, but we thought it might be about 4:00 p.m.  Dacy and Tucker both qualified at their District Horse Show for Trail.  

Jarred and Emmy showed up not too long after we arrived.  We had a nice visit with them waiting on Dacy and Tucker's events to begin.  Papa and Jarred took Emmy for a walk through the fairgrounds but I chose to stay at the arena.  It was really hot and muggy.  While it was warm in the arena it was better than being in the direct sun as far as I was concerned. Jarred stayed until about 5:30 or 6:00 and finally headed home without ever getting to see the kids participate. 

At 6:00 they announced the Trail events would not begin until 7:00, so we walked across the street to Bogey's (a well known restaurant in Hutchinson--especially for their ice cream dishes) to eat something before the Trail events started.  We got back not too long before the event finally began.  Dacy was in the first group (Trail for 15-18 years) and she was the 3rd or 4th person up.  

Dacy just starting her pattern in Trail.

She did an excellent job until right at the end and missed the last part of her pattern. It was just a simple thing but kept her from having a chance to place in this event.  I think there were about 40 entered and it was a good hour and a half to go through all of the riders, then they called back the top 15 one more time for the judges before selecting the top 10.  Next up was Tucker's age group (Trail for 11-14 years).  His horse had now been standing for quite awhile waiting for his turn.  The first part of trail is opening a looped rope gate (shown in Dacy's picture above) and closing it and that went fine, the next step is to walk your horse across a wooden bridge prop and his horse was having nothing to do with it and refused to cross.


Because his horse refused to cooperate, they did not complete the pattern, and so he did not place in the event either.  The full event finally ended about 10:00 p.m. and we headed back to Bentley.   Talk about another LONG day - but it was worth it to be there and watch the grandkids participate.





Friday, September 15, 2017 - Kansas State Fair Horse Show
Today's events begin at 8:00 - and we expect the event Dacy is in will begin around 9. We woke up to the sound of rain this morning.  Our thoughts immediately returned to last year's fair where we had to wade mud from the parking lot to the arena.  We are not looking forward to that, however when we arrived, we were able to park right across from the entrance Gate near the stalls where their horses are.  We arrived shortly before Dacy's event began.  Hers is a unique event.  Each person participating has been training their horse on their own for two years.  This is the second and final year.  They had two parts - one was to complete a pattern they are given ahead of time. That went very well for Dacy. She did an excellent job.  Then all four participants were in the arena as the judge asked them to lope, walk, or run their horses, back up so many spaces, etc. 

Practicing before the 3 year old event started.

Once that was done they all came to the center of the arena as they called out how each one placed.  

Dacy is at the far end on the right - you can barely see her and Margo her horse as the judges get ready to announce the winner

The first two were called and neither were Dacy - we waited hoping they wouldn't call her name next 




















- and they didn't - YES - she was announced the Grand Champion for the event!  

Leaving the arena after receiving her Grand Champion ribbon!

All smiles!!

Dacy, Mom (Renae) and Grandma Sue (Renae's mom). 

Dacy and Mom - they have worked so hard to get to this point!  Congratulations!!

We are so very proud of her. She has worked so hard with her horse Margo, and has dedicated many, many hours to training and riding her over the past two years.   Dacy is the fourth generation in a family of women horse riders in Cherokee County, Kansas.   After tears of joy, many hugs, and several pictures, Dean and I decided we should do our annual walk around the fairgrounds. By now it had quit raining but the clouds made us wonder a few times as we made our rounds.

Of course we had to stop and see this year's butter carving, and check out the biggest pumpkin and watermelon entered this year.  

719# pumpkin

187# watermelom

We walked through many, many indoor and outdoor exhibits.  We finally called it a day and headed back to the campground.  We had some lunch and we were just relaxing when Jarred called to see if we wanted to hang out with him and Emmy for the evening.  Andrea, his wife was going to the Derby football game with her parents.  We don't get to see our Wichita grandchildren often, so we couldn't pass up the opportunity.  

We decided on dinner at Applebee's and afterwards we would take Emmy bowling. She loves to bowl and it's something we do not get the opportunity to do often.  It was fun watching Emmy - here are a few pictures of her, with Daddy and Papa helping her.  

It was a team effort! HAHA  Afterwards we went back to their house for a while to visit before finally heading back to Bentley.

Saturday, September 16, 2017
This morning we were up early to head back to Wichita, this time to watch Roman and Abram (Heath's youngest and oldest boys) play football.  This is Roman's first year playing and only his second game.  His game started at 8:00 and was in the south central area of Wichita.  It rained some this morning and the game was delayed by 30 minutes, which worked out well for us as we were running a bit late.  As we left Hutchinson to head to the game I snapped a couple of pictures - before and at sunrise.  

As we neared Wichita it started to rain - and as it began to clear and the sun was trying to peak through the clouds I turned and noticed this double rainbow behind us to the right.

By the time we arrived at the football field the rain had stopped and it wasn't too long before the game started.  Roman did a fine job.  He was able to pull the tag off of one of the opposing team members and I just happened to get a shot of him throwing his arms in the air still holding the tag.  

Unfortunately just a short time later he was running with the ball for a touchdown.  A man had approached me to ask where I got my chair and I was telling him about it.  I heard yelling and turned from the gentleman to see Roman running right in front of us carrying the ball toward their goal, smiling from ear to ear, as he made his first ever touchdown and I missed getting a picture!  Oh well, I hope there will be more down the road.

It was only a matter of minutes later before we started hearing thunder and then noticed lightening and they called the game.  Heath's wife Casey had texted earlier than Abram's game was already cancelled due to weather.  Roman had to have team pictures taken afterwards so Dean and I ran to Sam's to pick up a few things we needed before heading to Heath's.  We were able to visit with Casey and their middle son Gideon for awhile before Casey and the two younger boys left for Oswego to attend a family birthday party.  Abram's birthday present from his parents is to attend his first Kansas City Chief's game with his dad on Sunday in KC so he will stay behind.  After they left, Heath, Abram, Dean and I went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and then we returned to Bentley.  We were both pretty tired.  It has almost been a whirlwind of doing things since we arrived.  I left the RV in a mess as we were hurrying to get there so I had work to do when we returned.  Once I was done I set down and took a little nap.  I already had dinner - white chicken chili leftovers I had made earlier this week - very tasty and very easy!!  

Later we went for a walk around the campground and I took some great pictures of the sky and the storms forming around us.  

This was the setting sun reflecting on clouds to the east.  It was really beautiful.

The radar didn't indicate we would get any rain - but we did.  We are leaving early tomorrow to try and make it back in time to attend Oswego's 150th sesquicentennial Cemetery Tour at 2:00. 

Sunday, September 17, 2017 - Back Home

We pulled out of Sand Hills at 7:45 am and arrived in Oswego at 12:05 pm.  We were watching the radar and the skies southeast of us.  It is not looking good for the Cemetery Tour - this is what we were watching as we neared home.  

Unfortunately we ran into very heavy rain near Parsons. 

According to the radar Oswego had been getting rain for quite sometime.  Once we were home and checked the rain gauge, yes it had been raining, our gauge showed 4 inches. Needless to say the Cemetery Tour was cancelled. Unfortunately for us, it is rescheduled for the following Sunday and we will not be home to attend.  I am disappointed but hopefully someone will video it and I can watch it at a later date.

Well, a fun-filled, fast paced few days in Wichita and Hutchinson came to an end.  We will spend the night in Oswego and will head south on Monday.  Stay tuned to hear about our next adventure.